On Monday I was interstate visiting other schools with Catholic Education Canberra-Goulburn on an 'Evidence Forum'. This delegation, consisting of Ross Fox (Director), Angus Tulley (Assistant Director), CE Representatives along with invited Principals and Assistant Principals from across the Archdiocese have spent three days visiting schools across Sydney and Perth. Prior to this trip we spent a day unpacking current educational research.

At present, I should be finishing up my trip to Perth. Unfortunately my father-in-law passed away on Monday night and I had to fly back early to be with family.  I did however start the evidence forum by visiting a school in Sydney and examining current educational research and evidence. 

When the idea of the Evidence forum was conceived, it was all about Principals and school leaders, leading a system-wide move to greater pedagogical conherence. 

As a school and system leader, I am increasingly aware of the many debates that take place concerning evidence and educational research, the what's best for teaching and learning. Whilst the profession of teaching comes under high scrutiny from many stakeholders, it is the profession itself, educators within the system, who need to constantly critique their practice and strive for continual improvement based on the needs of the learner, current research and evidence. 

Since starting this project, I have had many robust and collegial conversations especially centred on evidence that stands up to the scrutiny and the challenges of implementation in a school. 

Educators are very aware of the fads or temporary enthusiasms that are presented often in education and can become a noise of distraction at times. Because the 'noise' will not disappear, it is important for educators and school leaders to know what the essential components of good teaching and learning are and to devote ourselves to their practice and continual refinement.

This Evidence Forum project is providing a clarity regarding moving forward for our system, and more personally, for myself leading St Michael's. I will continue to keep you all posted.

Thank you to Damien Webb for stepping up during my absence and the staff at St Michael's who continue to demonstrate professionalism and passion each and every day. 

Year 5/6 Camp

On Monday we will farewell our Year 5/6 teachers and students as they embark on their Leadership Camp to Cooba. I know our students are very much looking forward to the time away from school, to connect, to learn and to have fun. Damien Webb will be attending as a Year 5/6 teacher and Executive member who will assume leadership of the 3 days. Shannon Blakey, Jane McKeough and Jess Figura will also be attending. 

Autumn Fete - Saturday 16 March (10-2pm)

We are full steam ahead for our upcoming fete. A huge thank you goes out to Anna Lutz as Fete Coordinator, the Community Council and the fete committee for their tireless work behind the scenes to make sure this event is a massive success. Thank you to the whole community for your support of donations over the last few months. Please spread the word among your networks and invite everyone along to the fete on Saturday 16 March.

Community Council

Community Council roles were nominated and accepted last Tuesday night. 

Chair - Esther Coghlan

Deputy Chair - Fiona Scherl

Treasurer - Gabriel Walsh

Secretary - Claire Carton (Semester 1) & Serae Love (Semester 2)

Promotions - Emma Bickley

Staff Rep - Jessica Lewis

Parish Rep - Fr Loi (Pat Ellis in his absence)

Principal - Pat Ellis

Assistant Principal - Damien Webb

Parent Representative Network

PRNs have been finalised. Fiona Scadden is our PRN Coordinator along with the school support from Damien Webb. The PRN role is one to build social networks among the parent body. Information will come home in the coming fortnight regarding this, but essentially the role is to promote class social events (perhaps a family BBQ during the holidays etc), celebrating the teacher's birthday, celebrating and acknowledging special events in families such as births and supporting each other in the tougher times. Information regarding school events will still be circulated through school platforms such as the newsletter, SZ app and Facebook. 

I have been recently made aware of a feeling in previous years that some families felt overwhelmed with information coming home from PRNs when this information had already been sent home through the class teacher or school. We will move to shift focus of PRNs to the promotion of the social aspect of school.

We welcome any feedback regarding this as we move forward. 

Enjoy the week ahead.

Be Kind.

Regards,

Pat Ellis

Principal

Shrove Tuesday

Before the fasting and prayerful reflection of Lent we celebrate Shrove Tuesday on Tuesday 5^th March. It is tradition at St Michael’s to enjoy pancakes this morning. If you are able to help with setting up, cooking and distributing pancakes could you please contact Ms Younger at school. We cannot run this special day without a lot of parent support and I thank you in advance for your help.

Ash Wednesday

There will be a special Ash Wednesday Mass at St Michael’s on Wednesday 6^th March at 11:45am. 3/4YM will be preparing the music and readings for this Mass to mark the beginning of Lent. The Year 5/6 students on camp will have their own special Ash Wednesday liturgy in the morning.

Sewing needed

I am looking for help with sewing a new cover for our Mass book that Father Loi uses during all of our school Masses. He would like it to continue to be rainbow coloured. If you are talented with creating and sewing (not my gift) and are interested in helping with this small task please contact Ms Younger at school or via email. meaghan.younger@cg.catholic.edu.au

Whole School Prayer Time

5/6B are very busy preparing to lead us in prayer on Friday 8^th March. This Whole School Prayer Time will offer us the opportunity to consider how we ‘Include’ as we are ‘Growing with the Spirit’. Whole School Prayer Times will begin at 2:20pm this year. They will still be held in the St Michael’s Church.

The APPetizer

The app of the week is Smiling Mind. This is aimed at teaching children how to be mindful and reflective of themselves. A great strategy for de-escalating from a busy afternoon and calming down. Suitable for students Kinder through to Year 6.

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Pearl and Levi who have been shortlisted for School Sport ACT Excellence in Sport Awards. We wish them well for the awards ceremony on the 13^th March.

Changes to School Sport ACT

From the commencement of this year there will no longer be Belconnen Region level trials for specific sports. To replace the regional level completion, many sports are holding gala days for schools to attend. We will enter teams in these gala days where there is student interest. The pathway for selection to an ACT sporting team is through trials offered in the same way as they have been previously. Please see the information below in relation to the process of registering your child for ACT trials on the School Sport ACT website.

Trials for 12&U Track and Field ACT Team

The School Sport Australia 12&U Track and Field Championships will be taking place in Darwin, NT this year and due to their weather conditions, the event has moved to 18-23 September, from its traditional dates in December. This means a much earlier selection process is required.

The ACT Team Selection Trial dates are Wednesday 20 March - 4.30pm - 6.45pm AND Tuesday 26 March - 4.30pm - 6.45pm. The venue for both dates is Woden Park Athletics Track, Phillip ACT

Students must meet selection criteria requirements, including minimum standard times. The selection criteria process can be found on the "Track & Field" page of the School Sport ACT website.

https://schoolsportsact.blob.core.windows.net/schoolsportsact-container-eas/SportAttachment-258.pdf

Catholic Schools’ Soccer Carnival

We are excited to be entering two year 3/4 teams and one Year 5/6 team in this year’s Soccer Carnival. Notes will come home shortly with details of the teams and coaches/managers. Thank you to the parents who have volunteered to coach/manage a team.

School Swimming Carnival  12th March at Queanbeyan Pool.

Please return permission notes and nomination forms by this Friday. Unfortunately, no late nominations will be accepted. If you are able to assist at the carnival, we are

in need of someone to coordinate morning tea on the day from 10-11:30am. We are looking forward to a great day of competition and fun.

K- 2 Water Fun Day Tuesday 12^th March

All students in Years K-2 will enjoy a water fun day and special recess here at school, while the older students are at the swimming carnival. Please return the special recess order form by Friday. If you are able to help with the preparation of fruit skewers between 10-11am, we would appreciate your support.

Cricket Clinics
Cricket clinics are going along smashingly! It has been fantastic to hear that the students are enjoying the program. The program has 2 weeks remaining.

NAB AFL AUSKICK

An afterschool AFL program is being offered on Kaleen Playing Fields commencing 6^th March between 3:30-4:30pm. For more information on this 4-week program or to register go to Play.afl/auskick

SunSmart

A reminder that all students should be wearing a school hat during play times. Hats can be purchased from the Front Office. It is great to see that many students are coming to school with sunscreen already applied. We have sunscreen available for students to reapply throughout the day.

Cross Country Carnival

Save the date: 4th April, 2019 (Thursday Week 9)
If you are willing to assist on the day as a course marshal, your time would be much appreciated.

Please contact me via email if you have any questions, feedback or are able to offer your assistance at any of our sporting events throughout the year.

SCHOOL SPORT ACT TRIALS 

Please keep an eye on the School Sport ACT website www.schoolsportact.asn.au for upcoming ACT trials.  The process for registering can be found below.  If you need any assistance registering your child please feel free to ask for assistance.

How to register your child with School Sport ACT

School Sport ACT now collects all registration information online – this is to prevent the movement to and fro of a paper note and have all information readily available to officials prior to the trial. As this process incurs a fee for data storage, system maintenance and admin, a small $5 fee payment via credit card will be required.

1. Go to the School Sport ACT website – schoolsportact.asn.au
2. Click Register (top right corner of homepage) for an Account – enter parent details and password
3. A confirmation email will be sent to your chosen email that will contain a link that you must click on to verify the email account.
4. Click Log In (top right hand corner of home page) enter password then click on top tab My Profile
5. You will see a ‘dashboard’ of your information, click green box to Add Student – enter student and medical details and save.
6. Go to the Sports Tab – choose your specific sport, click on Trial Information box then click on the Register to Trial link.
7. Select your child’s name from the dropdown box and then enter the optional fields for Playing History, Preferred Position (if applicable) and Representative Experience. If you are already in the system, ensure your child’s school is up to date in your profile – have they moved onto High School?
8. Make the $5 credit card payment then click to register.
9. An automated email will then be sent to your Principal/School Approver for their approval to trial (no need to take anything to school for the Principal to sign).
10. You will be able to see the process has been complete back in My Profile – once your Principal/School Approver has completed the approval process your child’s information will be collated onto a list for the Team Manager and Coach prior to trial.
11. Note the registration process closes two days before the first trial date to allow sufficient time for approval and sharing of collated information.

Looking forward to another big year of sporting participation,

Erin Hardwicke
erin.hardwicke@cg.catholic.edu.au

The Book Fair Here!! 

The Scholastic Book Fair has arrived and it has been wonderful to see the turnout so far! If you haven’t had the chance to drop in yet, the book fair will be open up until Friday.

This year’s theme is ‘Catch the Reading Wave’ and we are hoping this book fair will be another way we can promote a love of reading for our students and within our community. The students will have the opportunity to visit the book fair with their classes and during library lessons. At this time they can browse through the books and make a ‘wish list’ of books they are interested in.       

The Book Fair will be open Tuesday – Friday (26/2-1/3)

Times: 8:20-8:50am and 3-4pm.
Location: Library

Volunteering

If you are interested in volunteering in the library I’d love to hear from you. It is a great way for parents, grandparents and carers to get involved in school life and your time makes a valuable contribution to the running of our library for staff and students. We are always looking for people willing to help out with covering new library books. It is an easy job that can even be done at home. If are able to volunteer with this task please get in touch.

Student Borrowing 

Library lessons for each class will be on Wednesday's. Each Wednesday students can return books and borrow new ones for the week. If you wish to return books at other times, they can be placed in the returns slot on the front of the library desk. I look forward to working with all the students to develop their love of reading and literature throughout 2019.

Visiting our Library 

We hope that the library is an inviting space for our students and families too. If you wish to come in and spend a few minutes reading to your child/ren either before or after school, please know that you are welcome to do so. We ask that you return the book to the returns slot (on the front of the library desk) and it will be re-shelved for you.

Parent Library

A new initiative to the library this year is the parent borrowing bookshelf. It is located just inside the library, opposite the library desk. The system is based on a book swap approach. Please feel free to take a book and return when you are finished or bring in a book to swap. We are hoping to include literature that is for enjoyment and also related to parenting and educational information. If you have any books to donate to our parent library, they would be gratefully accepted.

We would like the library space to be 'the heart' of St Michael's. A space to gather and enjoy. So, if you have any ideas, feedback or questions, please flick me an email erin.hardwicke@cg.catholic.edu.au 

Community Council Corner

Last week the St Michael’s Community Council for 2019 held their first meeting.

After pausing for a moment of prayer and reflection, it was straight to business with plenty of exciting discussion on the year ahead. A key point on the agenda was the upcoming Autumn Fete - which is less than three weeks away! Things are coming together beautifully thanks to so many volunteers though we always need more parent helpers so notes asking for your support at the event will be coming out shortly.

Council discussion then turned to the results of a recent newsletter survey where parents were asked what they liked about last year and whether they had any comments or suggestions going forward. There was resounding support for the Movie Night, Disco and Walkathon with those present adding enthusiasm for hosting another Colour Run. Some new ideas included more working bees, BBQ picnics and even a degustation dinner. We also started planning the annual Catholic Schools Week Breakfast, to be held Tuesday 7 May, which was very popular last year.

Our attention was drawn to the potential for air conditioning in the classrooms, a matter that will involve considerable assessment prior to implementation owing to the cost and disruption of such an installation. We discussed the continued implementation of sustainability initiatives and Fresh Taste healthy lifestyle activities within the school, which have been met with encouragement internally and externally. Based on the experiences of last year's Walkathon we considered ways to streamline fundraising efforts making them easier for families to manage.   

We also appointed Community Council members to the following roles:

Chairperson: Esther Coghlan
Deputy Chair: Fiona Scherl
Treasurer: Gabriel Walsh
Secretary: Claire Carton

The Community Council encourages everyone to get involved with school events and we look forward to a fun year for all of our St Michael’s families!

We want your ideas

Have you seen something that has worked really well at another school or organisation? Got a creative new fundraising idea or other initiative for our school? Let us know. Please approach one of our Community Council members or send an email to council.stmichaelsps@cg.catholic.edu.au and we will add it to the discussions at our next meeting.

This week we will discuss realistic and abstract Art.

We will look at and discuss artworks by Piet Mondrian. Mondrian is best known for his iconic, abstract works made up of rectangular fields formed by black, white, and the primary colours red, yellow, and blue.

The students will create their own artwork using parallel lines and primary colours inspired by Piet Mondrian.​

​

Thank you those parents who have volunteered to be the parent representatives for each class for 2019.  The parent reps will be given a list of email addresses for each class and will be contacting you shortly.  If you do not wish for your class rep to have your email address, please contact Lisa in the Front Office to have your name removed.

Saturday 16 March 10-2pm 

We only have 10 days to go until our Autumn Fete. Many people have been busy behind the scene organising and preparing to make this day a huge success. Like any fundraising, there is a certain risk involved regarding how much work has gone into the event vs the amount of people who will turn up to support and the amount of money we will raise. Please support by attending and purchasing as much as you can and please invite friends and families to do the same. We are a small Catholic primary school who rely heavily on funds raised at events such as this to purchase bigger ticket items like playground equipment, furniture and tech equipment to name a few items. Please support and please give generously. 

We are still looking for

• Jars
• Craft items to sell
• Second hand books (in good condition) to be dropped off (tables on stage in the hall). We are after children's books and good quality literature.
• Next week, information will come home regarding baking items for the cake store. 

Each class has been allocated a stall, and we would ask parents/carers from that class to volunteer to help run the stall on the actual day. 

Please follow the link below to the google doc to put your name against a time slot, all help is greatly appreciated. 

All volunteers will need to have a WWVP card, however if you do not have a card you are required to sign a statutory declaration which is available at the Front Office.  

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OwudBffkTMb_hHJCyUvlkZYtNJcKUKwU4GW9-b8oyt0/edit?ts=5c732a8d#gid=2097185166

Please support businesses that support our school.

A quick reminder to all families that you are welcome to join us this Friday 1st March at 2.30pm to help clean up our local environment.  We will all gather in the courtyard to commence the clean up.

Kinders - courtyard/oval area

Year 1/2s - tuckshop area and area between school and the church

Year 3/4s - bike path parallel to school

Year 5/6s - front of church/basketball courts and front of school

Your help would be greatly appreciated, gloves and garbage bags will be provided by the school.

Thank you for your continued support.

Mr Webb

Congratulations to the following children who have achieved a Harmony Award in Week 4 and will receive their award this Friday at morning gathering.

We have a new canteen menu for 2019! This is an exciting, healthier change and we thank Empire Catering for engaging in conversations and making these changes. Feedback from the school community assisted in these changes.

All lunch orders now need to be placed by

MIDNIGHT 12pm on Wednesday nights.

Empire Catering have added some new Gluten Free options to the menu: 

• Gluten Free Muffins $3.00
• Gluten Free Nuggets $5.00
• Gluten Free pasta bolognaise $6.00
• Gluten free garden salad  small $4.50 and large $5.50
• Gluten free chicken Caesar salad small $4.50 and large $5.50
• Gluten free salad sandwich $4.50
• Gluten free chicken, avocado & lettuce wrap $5.00
• Gluten free garlic bread $2.50

The canteen still require assistance on Friday's from approximately 12.30-1.45 to help pack lunch orders, if you can assist in anyway, please contact Lisa in the Front Office.  Any help is greatly appreciated.

Please feel free to contact Empire Catering on 0408200481 for any queries with lunch orders or any constructive feedback you have regarding menu items. As we outsource for Empire to cater our canteen each week, we would appreciate you communicating directly with them regarding any issues, problems or concerns you may have regarding the canteen. 

Special wishes to those children who celebrate their birthday this week:

Brooklyn 3/4YM & Sami 1/2M

We hope you have a great day!!